Blimp of the Layer
by Aishiteru
Summary: Mihara Oujirou, Prince of the Layer, faces his most challenging battle yet - the battle of the bulge. What's a Prince to do when he starts gaining weight?


Mihara Oujirou is many things. 

He is a twenty one year old medical student studying at the prestigious Tokyo University, so he'll be qualified to work with his brother. Top of the class and all that; nothing less then perfection is what he demands of himself. Brilliant as he is, studying still takes up a majority of his time now, and will for another two years.

He is the boyfriend, or rather _koibito _of Suzuhara Misaki, a sixteen year old attending Eriol Senior High School, also a champion of Angelic Layer. Despite their four year relationship, she still seems to blush and fall down a lot around him. Oujirou somehow always finds this bizarrely endearing, and he enjoys startling her as much as he did when they first met.

He is the Deus of the legendary Angel Wizard - despite the explosive growth of Angelic Layer, he remains 'the Prince of the Layer,' adored by millions.

And above all, Mihara _Ouji_rou is a Prince. He was named a Prince, and so he is.

Princes do not gain weight.

Or do they?

* * *

Blimp of the Layer  
By Aishiteru

* * *

He hadn't really noticed it at first - it started out as a lassitude, a general feeling that he simply wasn't as healthy as he used to be. He dismissed it, of course - he was a busy person, dealing with a lot f stress. And if he didn't exercise regularly, it was because he didn't have _time _to exercise regularly. He would mean to start something up again - perhaps his karate classes, or even something as simple as running through the park every morning. Something. Walking around campus, and to the subway kept him in a semblance of shape. But every time he would try to get a regular pattern up again, something would come up. Exams. An Angelic Layer Tournament.

But roughly three years without regular exercising had excised their toll on his once slim body, which _had _been the ideal for any good bishounen. Combined with his hours indoors studying or playing Angelic Layer, he was looking a little....flabby. Soft. And his once inexplicably attractive pallor had paled somewhat beyond the attractive. He was looking....not good. Was that the beginnings of a double chin? Surely not. He hoped not.

Gazing into the mirror, an outgrown shirt in the process of being shed, Oujirou faced the facts. If he didn't do _something_ quickly, the Prince of the Layer was going to be known as the Blimp of the Layer pretty soon. 

The question was, what was he to do?

Not tell Niisan for one thing. He had the momentary image of himself being flogged on a treadmill, his older brother cackling madly while he cracked the whip. It wasn't a pretty sight.

Well, he was an adult now wasn't he? He'd been able to catch the subway since he was five, and he had a nice little stash of money tucked away in his bank account from his Angelic Layer wins. In short, he could do as he pleased.

The gym? That would be the easiest, after all. 

No, he didn't really have the desire or body type to build up a set of rippling muscles in that way. Plus, all that repetition tended to be mind numbing. 

He turned around, clad in a larger shirt that somewhat disguised his expanded figure. When Kaasan had first bought it for him, it had been hopelessly oversized. He winced, and reached for his jacket hanging off the back of a chair by his desk.

Wizard looked at him with unblinking, seemingly reproachful eyes, surrounded by mounds of textbooks and papers. He had been so totally consumed with his exams for the last couple of weeks that his poor Angel was covered with a light layer of dust.

"Sorry, Wizard," Oujirou murmured, dusting him off gently. "But you'll get to see Hikaru today at least." 

And he would get to see Misaki. At last.

* * *

He caught the train into the city, to Head Quarters. Niisan was running more tests on the new prototype of Shuuko's waterproof legs, so she would really be able to enjoy herself the next time they went to the beach. Misaki had gone along for moral support, and in case they needed another head to provide data. 

Inside the lobby, he caught sight of Misaki's two close friends, Tamayo having caught Kotaro in some sort of painful martial arts move once again. His protests could be heard echoing across the hall. 

"You said you wouldn't do this anymore, Tamayo!"

"Don't be such a wimp, Kotaro-chan! I need someone to test this new grip on!"

Oujirou's eyebrows rose with a life of their own. Seeing Tamayo in action always made him profoundly grateful for Misaki's unathleticness- er, gentle nature. Well, gentler nature. Angels were the mirror of their Deus' souls after all, and Hikaru was never particularly gentle with Wizard.

He passed by the arguing pair, and decided not to interrupt, quietly entering the elevator instead.

As he approached the lab, his brother nodded to him, resplendent in his usual lab coat and glasses. Through the viewing window he could see Misaki and Shuuko, testing out the new legs. A large pool of water had been bought in, with Shuuko treading water in the middle, while Misaki wore the headset, arms resting on the edge of the tank. They were both laughing, and Oujirou smiled. 

"Nice work, niisan."

Icchan smirked. "I know. My masterpiece is nearing perfection!"

"No more work today. Shuuko looks tired, and I'm taking Misaki out now."

"My little brother's giving me orders!? Nyororo.." Icchan made a wild grab for his ears with flailing arms, but Oujirou evaded with a deftness granted by years of practice, though he nearly tripped over Misaki's bag which had previously been hidden next to a desk by the door.

"Niisan!" he protested. "I'm too old for that now!"

At that moment, mother and daughter looked up at the window, and Icchan desisted from his attempts to pull his little brother's ears. Oujirou smiled again, and gave them a little wave. He could see behind the glass Misaki's lips forming a startled "Oujirou-san!"

A few moments later, after handing the headset over, and kissing her mother goodbye, she had run up to the box. "I'm really sorry, Oujirou-san, am I late!?"

"Not at all, Misaki-chan. I came to pick you up a little early, that's all." He widened his smile a little, hands raised. "Your friends are in the lobby too. Are you ready for our date?"

She reddened at the word 'date', just like he knew she would. "Ano..." she squeaked.

"Let's go." He took her gently by the hand - the hand that wasn't holding Hikaru - picked up her bag from by the door, and led her out.

* * *

"Look, Tamayo," Kotaro argued. "With you taking up this new thing, this foreign 'bo-tai' stuff-"

"TAI-BO, Kotaro-chan! At least get the name right!" Tamayo bellowed back, locking him into an enthusiastic head lock. Kotaro didn't seem to mind terribly, though he did splutter half heartedly. Oujirou had noticed that when he had first met them, she had been more inclined to kick him across a room. Now, there was a lot more body contact...

Puberty had definitely struck.

He felt so old in comparison sometimes. Over the hill at the age of twenty-one...

"Anyway," Kotaro said heatedly, after finally managing to escape (or rather, Tamayo decided to let him go). He straightened his collar, and ran a discreet hand through his hair. "With you doing _...tai-bo..._I feel like I hardly see you except at school! You're really doing too much exercise Tamayo - I was watching a program the other night, and it said that doing too much exercise can be bad for you-"

"Yeah right! Like that applies to me Kotaro, I just like keeping active! I've never had an injury, unlike you, who tore his ligament last year!_"_

"Well, what about your homework then? Last month I had to finish your literature essay in the free period we had just before it was due in!"

While her two friends bickered back and forth happily, Misaki's head was swiveling back and forth like she was watching a table tennis match. "Tamayo-chan! Kotaro-chan!" she would squeak when the arguing became too fierce. She was starting to work herself up too much; Misaki-chan worried far too much sometimes. He really thought she should be used to them arguing like this - Oujirou certainly was, with the number of double dates they had all gone on.

So, he decided to distract her.

Underneath the table, he gently enfolded her hand in his.

Immediately she jumped, her little hand squeezing his unintentionally, while that _adorable_ blush flooded up her cheeks. 

Oujirou smiled quite innocently, and looked away, as if he didn't know what on earth she was blushing about.

"Oujirou-san!" she exclaimed indignantly, and rather loudly.

Naturally it fell into a lull between Kotaro and Tamayo's furious debate. The pair stared at her for a moment. Then Tamayo snapped her fingers. "That's right! Exactly! Oujirou-san is exactly one of _those _types I'm talking about!"

Oujirou raised his eyebrows, while Misaki 'naaaa-ed,' and Kotaro glared.

"What type am I, Tamayo-san?"

"Oh, you know, Oujirou-san! The type that studies _so _hard that they completely let their body go!"

There was a slightly stunned silence at the table after that, during which Tamayo clapped her hands over her mouth, turned an interesting shade of purple, while Kotaro groaned and hung his head. Misaki looked at him with wide concerned blue eyes, and he silently froze his habitual pleasant smile on his face.

"Ano...sorry, we have to go," Kotaro said hurriedly. He pulled Tamayo out and they made a beeline for the door. Oujirou could vaguely hear him starting to yell at her as they left, in a tone he usually reserved for his errant little sister. "Tamayo! What the _hell_ were you thinking or _not_ thinking I don't know..."

He had known he had gained weight, but 'completely let his body go?' He hadn't thought it was _that_ bad yet...

"Oujirou-san..." Misaki faltered, and he realized she must have been trying to get his attention, because her other hand was on top of their loosely clasped ones. 

"Ah, sorry. What is it, Misaki-chan?" He tried his best to reply normally, but it was obviously a dismal failure, because her small face furrowed into anxious concern.

"Eto....Ano...That is....Oujirou knows that Tamayo-chan didn't mean that, doesn't he? I mean...Oujirou-san hasn't let _anything _go, even though he's very diligent with his studies...and he spends so much time helping Icchan-san and Kaasan as well..."

He patted her hand absently, although her earnestly spoken words had somewhat eased the wound to his pride. "Don't worry about it, Misaki-chan."

"But-"

"Because Tamayo-san was right."

* * *

They ended up in a nearby park again, watching the setting sun. Somehow it always seemed like they were always talking while the sun was setting.

"Misaki...Do you remember the first time you fought me? In Angelic Layer?"

"Un, of course!"

"Do you remember, how I kept on using Magic Guard?"

"Yes! I was worried, because I didn't want Hikaru to get hurt so badly, and every time I tried to attack you, Magic Guard defeated me!"

"But you figured it out in the end." He smiled, and gazed thoughtfully into the golden lit evening.

"You know Misaki-chan, before you defeated me, I was getting awfully lazy. No one could figure out the secret and get through 'Magic Guard', so all I had to do was use it when the things got tough. I never used it practicing with Shuuko - so she never had the chance to defeat it before you."

"Na?"

"After you defeated me, I had to look at what I had been doing, instead of being so complacent. I think now, it's the same thing, only it's my body that's gotten lazy, not just my mind."

He turned, and smiled again. Even though his face - a still very handsome face, Misaki thought devoutly, blushing again - was half obscured by the glaring remnants of sunlight, she could tell it was a real smile, not just one to reassure her. It did far more to relieve her however, as did the familiar determined cast to his eyes. 

"What are you going to do, Oujirou-san?"

He gave a little laugh, and sighed. "Why, stop being lazy."

* * *

_Author's Note: And, thus, my first Angelic Layer fic begins! How does Oujirou plan to shed those extra kilos!? I'm so mean to poor Ou-sama....bishounen really shouldn't have to face weight problems. Please review, and tell me your opinions, because I need to see if I can get into the Angelic Layer character's heads well enough to do a more serious fic. This one should be short - two parts, maybe three at the most. This chapter was supposed to be longer, but it just wouldn't write. Dang._

_Oh, and I didn't mean to make Tamayo sound like an utter $)(#(%. She didn't mean it - it just sort of slipped out, and she does seem the tactless sort sometimes._

_All Kenshin reviewers, please do not skewer me for not updating Meiji Heights first. I'm working on it._

_R&R onegai shimasu!_


End file.
